12.13.2009

Genesis 19 and 21





19:15-17; 26
"15At dawn the next morning the angels became insistent. 'Hurry,' they said to Lot. 'Take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Get out right now, or you will be swept away in the destruction of the city!' 16When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the LORD was merciful. 17When they were safely out of the city, one of the angels ordered, 'Run for your lives! And don't look back or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away!'"
"26But Lot's wife looked back as she was folowing behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt."

The Lord showed such great mercy towards Lot and his family. He sent angels to tell Lot to take his family and leave Sodom, so they wouldn't be destroyed along with the city. Then when they didn't listen, the angels literally pulled Lot and his family to safety. (I wonder how many times God has done this same thing for me...). Once they were out of the city, one of the angels told them to run and not look back at the city. Sodom was horribly evil, and God wanted them to turn completely away from the evil. I think God is telling me to do this same thing. When He rescues me from my sins, He wants me to turn completely away from them. He doesn't want me to dwell on them and long for them. He wants me to choose Him completely. I can't choose God and long for sin at the same time. When Lot's wife looked back at Sodom, God destroyed her. God is showing me that if I choose sin over Him, I will ultimately be destroyed.



19:4-8
"4But before they retired for the night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house. 5They shouted to Lot, 'Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!' 6So Lot stepped outside to talk to them, shutting the door behind him. 7'Please, my brothers,' he begged, 'don't do such a wicked thing. Look, I have two vigin daughters. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do with them as you wish. But please, leave these men alone, for they are my guests and are under my protection.'"

19:30-35
"30Afterward Lot left Zoar because he was afraid of the people there, and he went to live in a cave in the mountains with his two daughters. 31One day the older daughter said to her sister, 'There are no men left anywhere in this entire area, so we can't get married like everyone else. And our father will soon be too old to hve children. 32Come, let's get him drunk with wine, and then we will have sex with him. That way we will preserve our family line through our father.' 33So that night they got him drunk with wine, and the older daughter went in and had intercourse with her father. He was unaware of her lying down or getting up again. 34The next morning the older daughter said to her younger sister, 'I had sex with our father last night. Let's get him drunk with wine again tonight, and you go in and have sex with him. That way we will preserve our family line through our father.' 35So that night they got him drunk with wine again, and the younger daughter went in and had intercourse with him. As before, he was unaware of her lying down or getting up again."

These verses show how the evil of Sodom rubbed off on Lot and his family. The men of Sodom wanted to rape the men (angels) who were staying at Lot's house. Lot was doing the right thing in protecting his guests from these sinful men, but he was willing to give up his daughters' purity to do so. There had to have been a better way to handle it. He was so accustomed to the evil ways of Sodom, that he wasn't able to see clearly. He didn't see anything wrong with offering his daughters to the men.

Later on (after they had been rescued and Sodom had been destroyed) Lot's daughters became desperate to preserve their family line. They devised a plan to get their father drunk and sleep with him in order to have children. They were able to get Lot so drunk that he didn't even know that his daughters had sex with him. This shows poor judgement on everyone's part. They had all been corrupted by Sodom's evil. The daughters were able to devise this plan and didn't appear to find anything wrong with it. Lot allowed himself to become so drunk that he wasn't aware of what was going on.

It's so easy to let evil creep into our hearts. It starts by just being around it. Next, we become accepting of it and don't see anything wrong with it. Last, we act on it. I need to keep myself sharp and remember that sin is not okay. I need to remove myself from situations in which sin is likely to rub off on me.






21:1-2
"1The LORD kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. 2She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would."

God had promised Abraham and Sarah that they would give birth to a son. They were both past the age of having children, so they struggled with their faith that God would provide. Abraham was 100 years old when their son was born. I can understand how it was hard for them to believe they could have a child at this age, but God promised them on several occasions that it would happen. And He delivered, just as He said He would. God always follows through on His promises. Why is that so hard to believe sometimes? I need to have faith and trust that God knows what He is doing.

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